Ocicat 101

Sep 15th 2010

Cat Breed: Ocicat

Appearance: Named for its resemblance to the ocelot, the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) describes the ocicat as a "large, active animal with an athletic appearance. It is very solid and well-muscled and has a short, tight coat with a satin sheen that shows off muscles and spots to their best advantage." Prized for their beautiful wild-looking spotted coats, the ocicat comes in twelve distinct color variations, including tawny, chocolate, cinnamon, silver, chocolate silver, cinnamon silver, blue, lavender, fawn, blue silver, lavender silver and fawn silver. According to the American Cat Fanciers Association (ACFA) breed standard, the ideal ocicat "should be well spotted with spots that run from the shoulder blades to the tail and as far down the legs as possible."

History: The history of this cat begins in 1964, when breeder Virginia Daly attempted to produce the coveted aby-point Siamese, according to the CFA. Instead, the result of the breeding was a beautiful ivory kitten with golden spots and was christened "ocicat" by Daly's daughter. Tonga, the very first ocicat was neutered and sold, but after a local newspaper published a photo of the exotic-looking kitten, interest in the breed began to grow. "Other breeders repeated the breeding of Abyssinian to Siamese to create more spotted cats," states the Ocicat Breed Council, "and the ocicat breed was born."